Davey's RX-8

iTrader: (1)

Yes. You are. Big time. Next time you try to insult someone's intelligence, try and be right. Boston extends on the map as shown out to the the west where it says Middlesex on the left and Suffolk on the right. The would put Somerville due NORTH of the city. Unless the City of Boston city limits suddenly just became confined to city hall, which is about where the word is printed, then you're toast.

Yes, Clavius, major burnage. Should I call a doctor for you?

RPIRX-8

Ok here is the deal. I moved from Charlotte, NC to Boston in July 2003. I had a 2000 Toyota Celica + $75k renters insurance + $100K term life insurance through State Farm and I paid $87/mo for all of that. I moved to Newton, MA and just my car insurance went up to $139/mo.

<rant>

Insurance in this state is highway robbery at best. All the rates are controlled by the state, so there are minimal savings between companies. Now, there is a way you can stay with State Farm even though they don't write insurance in Mass. If you are a pre-existing customer of State Farm living outside of Mass, then relocate to Mass, they will transfer your policy. I didn't know this when I moved, and I got screwed.

The worst part is, most of the speed limits on the highways in the Boston Metro area is 55 mph. NOBODY and I mean NOBODY drives that slow EVER. The flow of traffic is around 65-70 with the more aggressive drivers doing 75-80. This means when the cops need to make the quota, they just sit on an exit ramp and pluck random people because technically, everyone is speeding. Myself and many of my friends have been randomly picked and ticket for riding in the 3rd lane, in the flow of traffic, doing 65-70 in a 55. THEN, each violation like this gets your step rating increased by 2 points, which then constitutes 15%-20% increase in your insurance rate.

Its just terrible all around, and there have been many complaints filed about how insruance works in this state. Living in Somerville isn't going to help your rates either. Very high car theft and accidental damage there (broken off mirrors, scraped from bikers, etc).

</rant>

Companies that write in MA:

Liberty Mutual
Amica
Commerce
Farmers
Firemans
Plymouth Rock
USAA (if eligible)

jzief128

iTrader: (1)

I was only asking a question. I wasn't trying to insult anyone's intelligence. You actually did that quite well yourself. I apologize that my knowledge of Boston's city limits isn't as good as your almighty knowledge. When I refer to Boston, I am referring to Boston Common (as signified by the star on the Mapquest map). If you take the red line outbound toward Alewife, starting from Park Street (Boston Common), you are headed in a northwesternly direction (for reference, see http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/subway/). So therefore, when I say that "she lives in Somerville (all the way out northwest of Boston on the red line)", I am correct. Argue semantics and geography all you want, I don't really care. Somerville, in particular Davis Square, is northwest of Boston Common, in particular Park Street. Most people refer to a city in relation to a central point, not the 90 sq. mi. "city limits". I'm sorry that you misunderstood.

jzief128

iTrader: (1)

My girlfriend is actually pointing me toward the Newton area for a place to live. She says its pretty nice and not so "city-like" Hopefully, I can stay with State Farm. That would be ideal. I have liked them so far that, even with the rates being equal, I would rather be with them.

Clavius

Figure since this is now turning into a general question of Insurance.

I just got a ticket last weekend my very first for speeding but whateva they cop said 60 and I told him I was only doing 45, he cut the difference and wrote the ticket for 50mph. I looked over the ticket and no major flaws were found only odd thing I found was he said he got me with radar and estimated. Now here is the question, been hearing two things.

First is that my insurance wont go up nor will it go down because of this ticket if I just decide to pay it off. My major deduction which is coming up next year I guess will be held off till the year after year, again from what I'm being told.

Second is that my insurance will shoot up by atleast $700 a year 'cause of this ticket and I should fight it tooth and nail, mind you I was going over the speed limit by 10mph that much I'll admit to.

So any real speculation or knowledge of this would be very nice of you guys thanks

jzief128

iTrader: (1)

I don't know how your insurance will change, but can't you talk to your insurance company "in hypotheticals" to find out how much it would cost? Also, couldn't you talk to a different insurance company then your own, since the rates are all the same, and then decide? I'm just shooting in the dark here, since I don't know how your system works.

RPIRX-8

This is exactly how it works, I just went through all this about 5 months ago. In Massachusetts, its does not matter how much over the speed limit you were travelling when ticketed as far as your Step rating is concerned. How many MPH over the speed limit you were going only matters for two things:

1. How much the citation is written for.
2. If you are travelling 30+ MPH over the speed limit, in MA, that is considered reckless endangerment. The cop then has the right to arrest you and impound your car. You will also be required to appear in court. This can increase your step rating by 10-15 steps or more if the judge is really pissed off.

So as long as you are under the reckless endangerment limit, each speeding ticket adds 2 surcharge points to your step rating. Now for the killer.....each surcharge point means a 15% surcharge on your insurance coverage (the 15% is calculated off the base rate. The base rate is what your cost would be if you had a 00 step rating). So effectively, 1 speeding ticket can raise your insurance by 30%.

As for how to get the points off. It takes at least 3 incident free years from the date you got the ticket before you are even eligible to get points off. So moving to how much it will cost you? Take 30% of what your base insurance rate is and multiply that by 3, then add in how much your ticket was written for. That total is how much it will cost you all up in the end for that ticket.

My advice, fight fight fight, then fight it some more. Even if you have to pay a $500 ticket, but they give you no surcharge points, do that, its better.

MrSuicideDoor

when i got pulled over and given a ticket, he wrote MAKE; MAZDA. TYPE: COUPE.

IDIOT m i rite?

Clavius

[QUOTE=RPIRX-8]
My advice, fight fight fight, then fight it some more. Even if you have to pay a $500 ticket, but they give you no surcharge points, do that, its better.[/QUOTE]
Hmm alright so I hope I am understanding this right mind you its been a odd *** last few days for me. So if I pay the ticket my insurance goes up by 30% for 3 years, but if I fight it and still lose and pay the ticket it doesnt go up?!

Myself I'm not sure how to fight it really. A few people said that I can question how long he had the K/A radar on me (my dector only went off for a split second) and he had to have it on me for a few seconds 3-5 seconds sumthing like that. Fight to have it lowered atleast, I was in 2nd at/around 4k rpm (in a 04 A/T and its about 45mph). Fighting to have it completely dismissed would be the hardest thing ever since I'd have to create my own evidence outa nowhere.

There was no other cars behind me nor infront of me, it was at 1:20 am on a long empty road (part reason why my foot was on the gas lol). I was only going that fast 'cause I got stuck behind a stupid *** truck doing 25mph in a 35 zone and I wanted to get home. I had a oportunity to pass and I took it. I was coming down from a passing speed and came over the crest of a hill and thats when I heard my dector go off, as soon as it hit for that split second I looked down and seen my car at 45mph I figured I was nailed if he's a jerk.
He was I guess and as soon as he pulled outa the gas station he was stationed in (lights off and the station had its lights off also) I put my turn signal on and pulled over. Once over I put my hazards on for a few moments and turned my engine off and rolled down my window. The officer came to me and asked if I knew why I pulled him over, I was always told by friends and fellow police officers to be honest and upfront with the officer and they'll be nice in turn, I told him I knew and handed him my lisence and reg. The officer then said "Well I clocked you doing 60 in a 35." my jaw dropped and I simply stated with some shock in my tone "I was doing 45!" he then said nicely "Well I got you doing 60 so.." I just shrugged and said "alright..." and sighed shaking my head. Now if I hit 60 it must of been for a split second as I let off the gas as I passed the truck and was coming down ova the hill, keep in mind i wasnt tail gating the truck I was atleast 2-3 car lenghts behind as I was annoyed and figured I'd wait till that small passing section came up at which point I shifted down to 2nd and gunned it. Grrr...

Anyways I was hoping to get a warning since this was my first ticket and if/when the officer looked at my record he'd see it being completly clean. No dice again he decided to give me the ticket for 50 'cause as he said he felt bad for writing such a expensive ticket for 60mph. So yeah $150 ticket and unsure of a defence of how to fight it. But paying a extra $580 a year for 3 years is a bit much. Grrr.. advice on the story I told of how to fight it if possible?

Davey's RX-8

iTrader: (1)

All the way being relative, given that's about all of three miles at most. It's okay. I'm sure the students in Allston and Brighton will be happy to know they still reside within the city. Davis Square is closer to the common than Cleveland Circle by oh....well now we're getting into higher math functions to do this calc. And just for the record, you can get there from here.

rodrigo67

kev, some more bad news.

Mass is the only state in the country that goes back 6 years on your driving record, so that ticket will be there for 6 years with points on it for the entire time. If you have a clean record for three years your points will start to come down 1 point for each year that is clean but you will always carry those points for this ticket until the 6th year ends.

example, I will use the old step system range from 9 thru 20+ but they changed the numbers this year but it still works the same.

A beginer driver starts at step 15. For each year he drives after 3 years without an accident he gets 1 step off his record for each clean year until after 6 years he gets the lowest he can, a step 9.

However if he gets a speeding ticket in his 3rd year of driving and gets 2 points for it, on the first renewal of his policy, his step will be 14 ( 15-3+2), the second will be 13, the 3rd will be 12, then 11. It will stay at 11 until the year your ticket falls off the 6 year range, and then it will drop to 9 with no further infractions. There will be surcharges on those points as long as they are on your record.

They are now using a point system where the lowest number is 99 points. Beginers now start at 00 point (100). Surcharges start at everything above 01 (101).

I would fight this kev even if it cost more now, it will definitely save you later...

Clavius

Worst part of all this.. haha.. I was about 1/4 mile from my home town where my brother is now a police officer lol I couldnt beleive it. If I was pulled over in my town I knew I would of been given a warning or just told to get home and watch it next time grrrr.

RPIRX-8

A couple of things here.

1. That really sucks that you got caught up in that situation. I personally think the spirit of the law should be enforced. If its 1:20 am, nobody else is on the road, and you JUST got done passing a big truck, doing 45-50 is not really unsafe, and you aren't hurting anyone.

1a. If you pay the ticket without fighting it, you will still get a surcharge on your insurance. If you fight it, you might be able to negotiate and say I'll pay the ticket + some amount, but incur no points. I had this offered to me once, and I took it and ran like Flo Jo!

2. I respectfully disagree with being "upfront and honest" to cops about tickets. Think of it this way, a speeding ticket is a breach of the law right? The cops job is to write you a ticket for speeding. I remember reading something where the percentage of the time where cops give warnings instead of tickets is less than 20%. If you are male and under 30, is less than 5%. If you are black.... lets not even go there (and I bring race into this ONLY in reference to this study I read). Point being, everyone hopes that by being upfront and honest, the cop will let you go. When the cop asks you questions like "do you know why I pulled you over" or "do you know how fast you were going", they are actually collecting EVIDENCE against you. This happened to me the first time I got a ticket and fought it. The cop asked me how fast I thought I was going, I told him 68 (speed limit was 50). He wrote me a ticket, I fought it. In court, he entered into evidence him hearing me tell him "I thought I was going 68". Now they had me on record saying I was doing a speed that was over the speed limit. My advice in that situation, say as little as possible, be respectful, note EVERYTHING about the situation, and fight the ticket.

3. There are a couple strategies you could use to fight this. You could argue, without admitting any speed you were travelling, that this is your first time ever being written a ticket. You have a clean driving record, and go that route. Second, you could go and argue there is no way you were going that fast and question everything about the situation (how can he be sure he gunned you, if he got you by the radar gun, why did he write 'estimate' on the ticket, etc). Third, hire an attorney and go to court to fight it.

The reason I'm saying fight it is because if you have a clean driving record, you are probably a step 98 or 99 which, in simple terms, is better than a perfect record. If these surcharge points hit your record you will prob be @ a Step 2. Since being a 98 or 99 means you are getting a discount for being perfect, you will lose that PLUS be surcharged 30%, so its actually worse in your situation.

I'm sorry Clauvius, this is exactly why Massachusetts sucks when it comes to car insurance and why people have been complaining for years.

Clavius

Ugh... lol.. thanks Rpirx needless to say I'm confused by it all but I'll reread it later tonight. The officer wasnt out of his car holding the gun rather most likely had a car mounted gun facing back and most likely forward to. Astral told me it was most likely a motion dection one and that is why my radar wasnt going off prior to me physicaly seeing the car parked in the gas station. He said I could argue that the gun wasnt calibrated correctly and it wasnt on me for the correct amount of time (my radar went off for a split second then off like it made a error). Well I'm gonna go wash my car and think about this grr.. thanks agian.

MrSuicideDoor

i was in a 35 going 50, the road had a Y turn, the cop was sitting in a 25 zone, gunned me in the 35, and ticketed me as if i was in the 25. i hate cops. i hate mass.

Clavius

haha just looked over the ticket he spelt my last name wrong can that get me off lol.. I know it wont but 'eh I thought it was amusing for a moment

So a lawyer since this will in reality cost me about 1.5k over the next 3 years, how much will that run me I know it will be different for each lawyer but a general estimate would be nice if anyone has had any dealings with this. Be nice to find one that says "If I can't get you off completly you dont pay a dime!" lol

Silvershadow

Clavius, look up National Motorists Association. They are the people who have worked out
various approaches to this kind of a problem. You can borrow (rent) a ticket fighter kit from them. Their advice is fight the ticket!
Silvershadow